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City of Morgan Hill
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Freight Rail
Union Pacific Rail Road (UPRR) owns the railroad tracks that go through the Downtown and
operates rail freight services. Freight trains have varying lengths and travel at various days
of the week and times of the day – there is no set schedule. Caltrain has an agreement
with UPRR to use the tracks for passenger rail service. UPRR is considering adding a second
set of tracks to increase rail capacity. (VTA is providing some funding as part of VTP project
T14). Added train service due to the increased capacity will increase vehicular, transit,
bicycle and pedestrian delays on Main Avenue and Dunne Avenue at the at-grade
crossings.
Enhanced Crossings and Quiet Zone Goals
The PDA, Plan Bay Area Draft 2035 and SPUR’s 2017 “Rethinking the Corporate Campus”
encourage building housing and development near transportation because it provides
benefits for both the transit services and the user do to convenient access to services.
However, frequent horn blowing at rail crossings could discourage business or residents
from wanting to work/live near the Transit Center.
There are three public grade crossings within Downtown Morgan Hill where Federal
regulations require rail vehicles to sound their warning horns for 15 to 20 seconds as they
approach the crossing; the Morgan Hill Transit Center Pedestrian crossing, the East Main
Avenue crossing, and the East Dunne Avenue crossing between Monterey Road and
Butterfield Boulevard. The PDA and Downtown Specific Plan encourages a mix of uses
within the Downtown including residential. The railroad warning horns can be disruptive
to nearby residents and businesses, especially during evening and weekend hours. A
solution for track crossings that run through dense, mixed-use areas that include residential
uses is the establishment of an enhanced safety Quiet Zone. A Quiet Zone is a section of
railroad line at least one-half mile in length that contains one or more grade crossings with
enhanced safety improvements, where horns are not routinely sounded. There are two
types of quiet zones that are applicable to Downtown Morgan Hill:
•
Partial Quiet Zone – where horns are silenced for only a portion of the day,
typically between 10 pm and 7 am
•
Full Quiet Zone – where horns are silenced 24 hours a day